Allright, built my mediacenter PC and now looking for the software solution. What I need is the following:Easy browse network shares (window and linux shares) and play .mp3 content, be able to add big .mp3 collections (big as in 5TB+ range..) without the mediacenter choking trying to collect info and choking when trying to browse the colletion. Be able to play x264 content in .mkv container, be able to play divx/xvid, show photos in .jpg. When it comes to movies and tv-shows, the possibility to browse based on folders and if a .rar collection of files (.r01 .r02 ... .rar) and the mediacenter would unrar file by file as needed and play back the content, and if the content being a .iso .img file etc, automount it up and show it as a dvd movie (as most .iso etc is dvd-rips).

So, am I even remotely close if I go with Linux MCE? or should I wait for XBMC's linux port, as these things works out of the box on a xbox, but the limit is the hardware so no 720p x264 stuff :/

As I expected, tough one. Not sure why so many mediacenters dont focus on these things. There are so many guys out there looking for the exact same thing. Only good solution out atm, is buying a xbox 1 and use as mediacenter, but then you dont get the 720p as the cpu etc aint good enough.. So please, allmighty developers.. Have a look at the post, belive me when I say, I aint the only one after these features on a PC platform..

I am building my first "CORE" as we speak. I am using the same xbox solution for my similar situation.I have a ver 1.0 with a xenium running the latest xbmc. I love how easy it is to get all my content off all my shares. But mine chokes at a 20gb folder. (frank sinatra collecton) But the box is flaky and not something I want in my living room.I think linuxmce might take a while to scan you collection, but once it does it should not "choke" accessing it. Not sure x264 content is supported.( I know MPLAYER and VLC will play it on my linux box.) I pretty sure if you rip a dvd in LinuxMCE it is in an img file be it .iso or .img. Not sure about RAR. You don't unrar after you dl? I think this project is very young. I would stick around and see how it goes. If they get half this stuff right it will make it worthwhile to attempt.